Gosh!!! Time does seem to fly, really…and it seemed like only yesterday when we had our reunion bash and before we knew it, it was time to get together yet once again.
My school’s alumni’s annual reunion dinner was held at the same venue on Saturday, 5th April…to coincide with the Ching Ming festival so that those ex-students coming home to perform their filial duties would be able to join. This year, the festival did not coincide with Good Friday so they did not have the luxury of a long weekend at their disposal – some had already got everything done the previous weekend or earlier during the week-long mid-semester school break. Probably that was why there were only 80 tables, or so I was told, as opposed to 100 last year…
There was a sape band in attendance…
– winners of the Borneo Talent Award, the Etnik Revolution, 3 of whom were former students of my school, playing some of the popular hits of today and also those from days gone by, in their unique traditionally and exotically-Sarawak style. I think I heard “I’m yours“. “The Final Countdown“, the very popular “Anak kampung” and a very familiar Mandarin oldie – if I’m not mistaken, it was this one.
There was also some entertainment such as this dance by our counterparts from our sister school…
…and of course, there was the food.
It was RM450.00 a table this year – if I remember correctly, it was less last year but I’m not very sure as I can’t really remember now. I do not know exactly how much a table was. Perhaps, the associations would use part of the money for their funds for their various activities, I wouldn’t know, but it did not matter really as I would say the food was good and we enjoyed what was served very much.
The first dish was our more-than-Four Seasons…
– the hot version with the gravy, kept constantly warm with the fire down below.
The soup followed and thankfully. I could not find any trace of the unmentionable in it so it was more like an egg and shredded chicken soup thickened with corn starch. It was very nice though – which goes to show very obviously that whether there is any of the offensive stuff in the soup or not, it does not make any difference as it is completely tasteless and more for some people to flaunt their wealth than for anything else.
Personally, I feel that the stuffed duck here…
…is the best in town and it did not matter one bit that they did not bother about the presentation for after the waiter had cut it up…
…it looked a whole lot better than when it was served…
…and it tasted really good too! We all loved the glutinous rice in it as well and in fact, Melissa had two huge servings of this!
Ken, my ex-classmate back from Brisbane, Australia, was swept off his feet by the fish curry…
…served with the very fragrant Sarawak’s own Bario rice. He said it was absolutely beautiful and I would say it was pretty good though I do know of a place in town that does it a lot better.
This vegetable and mushroom dish followed…
…and then, there was the black pepper lamb…
…which was nice too but I thought having had our fill with all that came before, it was kind of heavy and I would very much prefer a prawn dish instead…and lastly, we had the fruit platter.
I really must thank my ex-classmate and good friend, Robert, for making the arrangements and booking two tables for all of us – the Class of ’69/’71 from our school and the girls’ school next door…and the kind and generous guy insisted that it was his treat and simply refused to accept any payment of our share. Oh dear! Oh dear! And I even brought my family along – so shy lah, really!
Nope! I did not sing this year. We were all very good and behaved ourselves but I did go on stage to receive our lucky draw prize – they did it table by table and both our tables won something! This was what we got inside the boxes…
They say they’re very good but I wouldn’t know as I would usually use some old towels or t-shirts as and when necessary and most of the time, I would just send my car to the car wash. I’m too old to wash it myself now, I’m afraid. Sigh!!!!
Ah yes!!! One more thing! There was this pretty lady that night who stopped by my table to say hello and she added, “I like your blog!!!” Ooooooo….that certainly made my day! It sure is nice to know that there are people out there who actually appreciate what I’m doing and enjoy my daily sharing. Now, who says old people are boring? Tsk! Tsk! LOL!!!
So, there you have it! Our annual reunion dinner for this year, 2014…and if anyone is interested, it has been announced that next year, it will be held on the 4th of April (Saturday) so those abroad especially can start planning their trip home right away…
...STILL CRAZY AFTER ALL THESE YEARS! 